


The Sad Wolf and the Clumsy Knight

by Akinasky



Series: Sterek Bingo 2018 [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Children of Characters, Domestic Fluff, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Parents Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale owns a Bookstore, Sterek Bingo 2018, Thunderstorms, sbbookstore, sbfairytale, sbsbdads, sbthunder, sterekbingo2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 23:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14682201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akinasky/pseuds/Akinasky
Summary: Derek and Stiles need some books and 'A Hale of Books' was the only place to get Emissary books and kids books all in one place for their little family.





	The Sad Wolf and the Clumsy Knight

**Author's Note:**

> This story is somewhere in between My Love, A Wimp and We've Lived from my previous Sterek Week series.

 

“Are you telling me that the first thing you want to do on our first family outing with the twins is go to your uncle’s weird ‘I want you to like me’ bookstore?” Stiles asked Derek as they prepped four kids to head out the door for their Saturday together.

Derek didn’t feel the need to answer his mate so he just kept working to put Eden’s little shoes on her feet while Rafferty, her twin brother crawled around him on the floor. Since they’d been orphaned, sadly both of the little kitsune twins regressed to not talking or walking but Derek and Stiles were patient with them.

“Denali, come on girlfriend, get your butt down here now. You do not need to take all your dolls with you,” Stiles yelled up the stairs to their eldest child.

Derek frowned, “Since when do you refer to our daughter as ‘girlfriend’?”

“That’s the lingo man, I am the hip dad, you’re the boring dad.”

Denali huffed at her father as she walked down the stairs, “I can promise you are not the ‘cool dad’ Tata.”

Derek chuckled, “Oh little shewolf, be nice to Tata, you know how sensitive he can be.”

“Daddy, Charlie is asleep on the floor upstairs,” Denali said instead of talking about her father’s sensitivity as she walked over and started putting her shoes on. Her long brown hair was pinned back in pigtails that were undoubtedly going to come undone sometime today. She was wearing a cute little dress, dark blue because she refused to own pink despite Stiles’s desire to dress her in princess wear.

“I’ll get him,” Stiles smiled as he stepped around Raf and barely stayed on his feet when Eden moved abruptly, Derek reached out to support him. Stiles smiled in gratitude and headed up the stairs and stopped somewhere in the hallway and murmured, “Charlie, are you ready to go to the bookstore with Tata and Daddy?”

Derek listened but heard nothing from his first son, the only one of the bunch that was biologically theirs. Stiles and Derek asked Cora if they could borrow her womb and an egg so the child would still be a Hale-Stilinski and surprisingly his little sister agreed. Not that it mattered, all four children belonged to Stiles and Derek no matter what the DNA tests might say.

Stiles murmured a little more to Charlie and he finally stirred when Stiles picked him up, coming awake with a cry. Stiles shushed him gently, “You’re okay little man, I got you.” Though at eight years old he wasn’t that small anymore and Stiles had to be really careful as he carried Charlie down the stairs while Derek watched them.

When Stiles reached the bottom with a red eyed-red cheeked little boy, Derek took him gently while Stiles got finished grabbing diaper bags and activity bags. Denali had her own little princess backpack that had several superhero pins stuck to it as well as a Wonder Woman keychain.

“We taking the minivan right?” Stiles asked, looking at the keys next to the door.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Well we sure are not loading them into the Camaro or the Jeep, that’s for sure.”

Stiles sighed, “We need to get second family car, maybe one that looks a little less dorky.”

“And who, pray tell will be driving the dorkier one we have now?”

“Not it!” Stiles said, touching his nose as he grabbed the keys with his free hand.

“We’ll see about that.”

Stiles winked back at him and opened the door, then waved Denali out before he turned back and took Charlie who was waking up enough to be okay with the transfer and grabbing his shoes while Derek leaned over to scoop up Raf then Eden. Stiles opened the sliding back door and helped Charlie into his booster seat in the second seat, next to the booster seat that Denali was already settled into. Then they quickly nestled the twins into their car seats and dropped the bags at their feet. Stiles waited until Derek was closing the door to press a kiss to Derek’s lips with a smile.

“I love you Mr. Hale.”

“I love you too Mr. Stilinski.”

Stiles rubbed his nose over Derek’s then walked around the front to get into the driver’s seat while Derek climbed into the passenger seat. They shared driving duties in the van because it was the family vehicle, they had charts and schedules for it and a lot of other family chores so there wasn’t a lot of hassle trying to figure out who was going to drive.

They were driving towards the bookstore when Stiles asked, “Do you think we should have hyphenated? Like the kids?”

Derek shrugged, “You ask me this at least once a year, you know you’re going to have to wait another three months at least before you ask again?”

“Shut it Sourwolf,” Stiles snickered, not heat to his words.

“I’m pretty sure if it was an issue we would have figured it out when Denali went to school and no one cared. They all have both our names and no one cares that we don’t share each other’s name.”

“It’s the only thing we don’t share,” Stiles muttered and Derek rolled his eyes and double checked the bag sitting at his feet. They had a couple of lists, some books for the kids and at least two special ordered books for Stiles that only Peter could get through his supernatural contacts, the same contacts that were leery about working with Stiles because of the stories about him in the past. They were coming around, according to Peter but like buying the small Beacon Hills bookstore, it seemed like a bid for more attention.

Since he was the kids’ uncle, Derek didn’t want them to miss out on seeing him and since the store was a public place and Peter was less likely to be a creeper as Stiles called him, they frequently visited during the weekend.

Stiles drove into the parking lot about ten minutes later and Derek glanced over the sign saying ‘A Hale of Books’ and the display of werewolf books because Peter thought he was really clever. Thankfully that display was only up every couple of months and everyone just assumed it was because Peter really liked the lore.

Derek and Stiles exited the front seats and went through the five minute process of unhooking everyone from their boosters or car seats, then with Raf in Derek’s arms and Eden in Stiles’s arms while Denali led Charlie ahead of them, they walked into the store.

The jingle of the bell brought Peter out of the back room and he smiled politely, looking like it hurt to do so. Then he caught sight/scent of the kids and the polite smile transformed into a real one, just a little soft that Derek didn’t even think his uncle knew he could do. “Deni! Charlie!” he called out and they rushed and waddled over to give him hugs and kisses.

“Hey Peter, you called about those books?” Stiles asked after a couple minutes of cooing.

“Hello Nephew, Stiles. Yes, I did. I didn’t think you would come today, not with the scent in the air,” he touched his nose for emphasis and Derek frowned. Denali and Charlie started sniffing the air like they would be able to smell it inside with the scent of paper and ink all around them.

“Storm?” he asked, thinking back to what it smelled like outside, though it had been tough to distinguish with the overwhelming and beloved scent of family and children.

“Nephew, these kids are making you soft,” Peter tutted, shaking his head.

“Well we can pick up the books and be headed out,” Stiles said nodding to Derek, smelling pleased with the excuse to leave quickly.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Denali, take your brother to pick out one book. You too, okay?”

She nodded and took Charlie’s hand, heading towards the little children’s nook in the front corner of the shop. Peter put it there because he didn’t like the idea of random people’s children being out of his sight and their parent’s sight, this way he could keep an eye on them. When it came to Denali and Charlie though, they pretty much owned Peter’s heart and did whatever they wanted, if Derek and Stiles would let them that is.

“And you are bringing out your new little tykes I see?” Peter nodded towards Rafferty and Eden who were still and quiet in their arms.

Stiles smiled, strained by the discomfort of making small talk with Peter, “This is Spark and that’s Fox.”

Derek shook his head when Peter looked at him in surpise, “No, that is Eden and this is Rafferty. They have been struggling since they came to us so this is our first outing with them. Glad its not super busy in here since they can freak if they get handed off too many times.”

“So no, you can’t hold them,” Stiles sniffed.

“Stiles, knock it off,” Derek sighed.

“Have I offended you Stiles?” Peter asked, genuinely confused by Stiles’s treatment.

“Just because you have died and been reborn more times than Buffy does not mean that we just forget all the shit things you did to us when we were younger. I am not planning on leaving you alone with my kids no matter what Derek says for a long time to come. And yet somehow the people I need to be in contact with still trust you more than they trust me. It’s stupid and short sighted.”

Peter shrugged, “That may be so but I am not the reason they don’t trust you, neither are you for that matter. You have worked hard to bring the Hale name back into the light and you have done well but the Stilinski name is still a little tarnished from your youth.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and turned away from Peter, Derek sighed and stared at his uncle. Peter shrugged, “I didn’t do anything to make them think any less of him.”

“Peter, the fact that you are seeking things for him that he should be able to seek on his own is bad enough, just try and see things from his point of view.”

Peter rolled his eyes and Derek turned to follow Stiles over to the kid’s section where Denali was picking between five books, looking like if she took long enough then they would bring all five home. Of course she knew how to work her Tata and Daddy so he wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. “Ignore him,” Derek whispered, kissing the top of Stiles’s head.

“Can we just pick our books and go?” Stiles moped.

Derek opened his mouth to answer when the first crack of thunder sounded and just as suddenly the patter of rain started. Stiles slumped on the floor next to their son while Derek looked over at the front door, it was like a waterfall had opened in front of the door, everything was instantly soaked and the continuing rumble-crack of the thunder sounded again. He caught sight of Peter who was rubbing his nose arrogantly.

“Well maybe we can read a story before we leave, so we don’t get soaked walking out to the van,” Derek said as he slid to the floor to sit cross legged next to Stiles.

“Um hmm,” Stiles responded and started picking at books, trying to see what they could read.

“We could read a fairytale?” Derek asked Denali and Charlie.

“Which one?” Denali asked.

“Little Red Riding Hood,” Stiles said with a smirk.

Denali rolled her eyes in perfect Stilinski form, “Tata, you tell that story every Halloween. Over it.”

“Pre-teens,” Stiles sighed at his daughter’s sass.

“Beauty and the Beast?” Derek asked.

“Lived it,” Stiles sing-sang the words and Derek glared at his husband.

“So you’re the beast right?” he asked Stiles.

“Don’t start with me Sourwolf,” Stiles returned hotly.

“What about the one about the boy,” Charlie asked in his tired little voice. Did he sleep at all the night before, Derek wondered. He took naps barely anymore because he didn’t normally get this tired.

“What boy?” Stiles asked, rubbing a hand through their son’s hair.

“The boy who loved the wolf,” Charlie answer matter of factly.

“Where did you hear a story like that?” Derek asked, wondering if he already knew the answer.

“Aunt Cora,” Charlie said.

“Uncle Scott,” Denali said soon after.

“Grandpa.”

“Uncle Jackson.”

“Uncle Isaac.”

“Okay, okay,” Stiles chuckled, waving his arm out to quiet them.

“How does this story go?” Derek asked, smiling while he leaned his shoulder into Stiles’s body.

“Once upon a time, there was a wolf. He was very sad and felt very alone.”

“Wonder who that could be?” Stiles stage whispered.

“Shhhh,” Denali snapped and Stiles held his hand up in surrender before she continued, “He put his heart in a tall tall castle and there was a dragon guarding it. He didn’t want anyone to ever touch his heart ever again.”

“I believe I know this story,” Peter mused as he came over and sat down in one of the nearby children’s chairs. Derek rolled his eyes, interested and terrified to hear what kind of story his pack was telling his children about him.

Charlie continued where Denali stopped, “Then a very stupid knight came along,” Stiles gasped in offense saying ‘ _I’m going to kill them all, one by one!’_ then their son gestured madly, “No. That’s not the word. Denali, what was the word?”

“Clumsy knight,” Denali corrected and Charlie nodded.

“Clumsy knight, he came along and didn’t slay the dragon. He hugged the dragon until it lay down.”

“Then he climbed to the top of the tall tall castle and retrieved the heart and found the sad wolf.”

Derek smiled while Stiles leaned his head on Derek’s shoulder and they continued to listen to what was undoubtedly a very thin version of this story.

Denali continued, looking beautifully besotted by the characters in her ‘made up fairytale’, “But the wolf didn’t trust the clumsy knight, he was sure the knight would drop his heart and break it like so many others had done.”

“But the knight,” Charlie interjected and Denali pouted for a second as her brother continued, “He gave the heart back. He said he didn’t want to keep the heart but protect the wolf.” Then he stalled on the next part and Denali started talking again.

“The clumsy knight did what he could to protect the wolf, he was always clumsy about it but the wolf noticed how much the knight cared for him and one day the wolf handed the knight his heart once more and said ‘I can trust you with this, my wolf heart’.”

“The clumsy knight took the wolf’s heart, holding it close,” Charlie started again, “But he reached into his own chest and pulled out his heart, one that had known hurt and loss and hadn’t been held by another in a long time.”

“The clumsy knight handed his heart to the wolf,” Denali said with an air of finality, “And said ‘I hope you will agree to hold my heart as I hold yours’. And they lived happily ever after.”

Derek and Stiles both smiled broadly at their children, “That was a wonderful story,” Derek said.

“Yeah, I don’t know about the clumsy knight thing,” Stiles said but Derek coughed and he stopped. “No that was an awesome story.”

Thunder cracked again, sounding loud and disturbingly near. Stiles opened his other arm and invited Charlie to curl up on his other side while Derek did the same with Denali. The children weren’t scared of thunder, not really. They’d heard it before but Stiles was jumpy sometimes and having the children close comforted him.

“Tata,” Denali said, looking around Derek to Stiles. “Books always say that werewolves are monsters, people say it too. All the time.”

“I know baby, but your not a monster, neither is Daddy or your brothers and sister.”

Denali scoffed, “I know that.”

Stiles frowned, then shook his head, “What’s the confusion then.”

“Well you didn’t know anything except that werewolves are monsters? How did you decide to trust Daddy?”

Derek smiled, looking over at his husband and bumped his shoulder companionably. “Yeah, how did you decide to come to that conclusion?”

“Oh hush Sourwolf!” Stiles chuckled, “Well baby girl, you know how sometimes Grandpa has to take bad men and women and put them into cells when they do bad things. I grew up knowing that humans could be good and kind and trustworthy but I also knew a long time ago that they could also hurt each other. They could do things for the express reason to destroy each other. When your Uncle Scott was turned, he was my best friend and I assumed that he would continue to be my best friend only with claws and funny eyebrows.”

“But Daddy wasn’t your best friend,” Denali continued.

“No, and your daddy and I didn’t have the greatest start when it came to trust but when I learned what that hunter did to him I realized that no matter what the species, people or werewolves, they could just as easily be good and loving as well as crazy and dangerous. We weren’t so good at talking to each other back then so we struggled a lot in the beginning but now we’re here with you. And I get to tell you never judge someone because of what they are, always give them the benefit of the doubt but always be cautious of the ones who choose cruelty and control.”

Denali nodded and leaned against Derek’s side, “I’m happy that you talked to each other. That the clumsy knight fell in love with the sad wolf. They both deserve a Happily Ever After.”

Derek smiled, “Yeah they do,” he whispered and leaned over to kiss Stiles on the cheek while they listened to the slackening rain just outside the bookstore, waiting for it to stop so they could head back to the house and keep living their happily ever after together.

 


End file.
